Prabhu R 
Work-Life Balance (WLB), a term that everybody in the organization gripes about. Right from the person at the top of the helm (Presidents, VPs, CEOs, etc.) to even the most junior associate in the organization, everyone starts complaining about the lack of WLB. It starts with blaming their immediate leads or managers which ultimately ends … Read more
There is a small snack shop near my place, people call it the “Vadai Kadai” which means “The Vadai Shop” in the local language and Vadai is a small snack made of mashed dhall, mixed with onion, chilly, curry leaves etc., and fried in oil. One day I visited the shop to buy some Bonda … Read more
Applications and websites that allow users to sign-up mostly have restrictions of password like Passwords should be 8 characters or more Passwords must contain alphabets, numbers and special characters Passwords cannot be any of the previous 3 or 5 passwords Passwords cannot be easily guessed and so on… Implementing these is not trivial in an … Read more
A bunch of graduates who graduated from the film institute met the famous person in the film industry who was a versatile actor, producer, director, singer & so on. The graduates with the burning desire to work with the multi-faceted actor and with the hopes to appear positive, willing to learn, able to serve, said … Read more
These days with the presence of numerous GUI based and Web based apps, receiving input and data via console has reduced. However, there are applications that require and run in a console. Java applications are not an exception to this. Getting input from the user was not as simple in Java as in other languages … Read more
To most, “process” is a sick word that prevents them from doing things. Like the funny quote goes, “Getting things done is not an excuse for not following the process! Corollary: Following the process doesn’t get things done!” In some cases, the original intent of the process gets hazy or blurred over time and it … Read more
Continuing the previous post, here we will see more about the tools that help us understand the code. First we will see about eclox. Eclox can be considered as a doxygen frontend in Eclipse. It is a plugin that provides the UI for the doxygen configuration and once configured. Documentation can be generated with the … Read more
Going through the code and understanding it is a daunting task, esp. if the code is written by someone else. It would be a nightmare if the code is not documented. The plight is usually for the developers who are tasked to maintain a code that is written by someone else. Sometimes the situation is … Read more
Whenever a new Java library is out, developers would be curious to try it out. However, it is sometimes cumbersome to set up the project in the IDE or as a maven project along with the dependencies. Of course, classpaths can be set in the command line, but it is still cumbersome for the lazy … Read more
Developers and QA automate their tasks to make their life easy in doing repetitive tests on the code that they have developed. Web Automation is one such repetitive task that is done by almost all the QA out there! However, adding to the burden, testing the same application on multiple browsers makes it even monotonous … Read more
In one of Mike Baldwin’s comics, a man would be on the phone line, probably calling the customer support. The voice from the other end would say “Your call is important to us, please hold the line until your call is no longer important to you” I have had similar experiences and I am going … Read more
Recognition is not a perfunctory procedure as followed in most organizations today. It is something very vital that nurtures the growth of the employees and the organization. The organizations call it using many names and colours – RnR meet, Rewards & Recognition ceremony etc – but most lack the spirit! There is an incident from … Read more
Feedback is an important aspect for the organization and its employees. It plays an integral part in shaping up the career of the employee. Let’s begin with a story In the past, there was a popular orator who performed his discourses at many places. One day he was to perform his discourse in a village … Read more
Instilling confidence and making one believe in their own capabilities is the hallmark of a good leader. Like how it took Lord Rama to make Lord Hanuman believe in his very own strengths. As usual, our story! There was a village nearby a mountain, it had a small population. One day, a Sanyasi (An ascetic … Read more
Focus, usually is a very elusive thing. Leaders get pulled out in fifty different directions and sometimes they are spread too thin to have a better attention span and focus. Yet good leaders cultivate the ability to focus. In the olden days, there were Gurukulams – a sort of a residential school – run usually … Read more
Being inclusive is an important trait for a leader to build a great team. It goes beyond personal preferences to include the right people for the team regardless of their age, experience, levels etc. That said, each person has unique capabilities. So, having the right mix and choosing the right person for the right task … Read more
In this article in the series of “Catalytic Leadership”, we will see about commitment and how committed leaders would be to the task at hand. Thiruvalluvar in his Thirukkural couplet says, தெய்வத்தான் ஆகாது எனினும் முயற்சிதன்மெய்வருத்தக் கூலி தரும்— திருக்குறள் (619) Theivaththaan Aakaadhu Eninum Muyarchi ThannMeivarutha Kooli Tharum Meaning, Even when the Gods are not helping and … Read more
In this article in the series of “Catalytic Leadership”, we’ll see about what trust is from a leader’s perspective As usual a small story, Bob and Rob were very close friends from childhood. They were so close that their appearance and preferences were almost the same. They wore the dresses of the same colour, they … Read more
In this article in the series of “Catalytic Leadership”, we’ll see about how leaders understand people Once a student was travelling by bus. The bus was a bit crowded, yet he got a seat. In one of the stops, he saw his teacher board the bus. The teacher saw him too. When the teacher came … Read more
In this article in the series of “Catalytic Leadership”, we’ll see about the first step in solving any problem! Once three mathematicians and an ordinary guy were locked up in a room. They were given a paper that had a puzzle to be solved and were instructed that the key to open the room can … Read more